She's No Traitor
by Checkmate 24601
Summary: This is for everyone who supports the innocence of the Weaving Princess during the Arrancar and Winter War arc.  First chapter has Ukitake's, Kenpachi's, Soi Fon's and Byakuya's POVs.  If there are enough reviews, I might add more chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N **Inspired by Cella N's "10 Decisions and 1 Action". This is for everyone who supports the innocence of the Weaving Princess.

Story is set in the aftermath of the Winter War, after Aizen's death.

**She's no traitor**

_Ukitake Juushiro – the Breath of a Promise_

She stiffens her shoulders.

This reaction surprises Ukitake. He would have expected it from Hitsugaya Toushirou, Soi Fon, Kuchiki Byakuya… but not her. It is the first observation he notices after he regains consciousness as Shunsui rapidly explains how he is even still alive considering a Cero broke his spine and left a hole in his chest. The blood on his haori is testament to that. And to be brought back from the brink of death by _her, _who is only a child…

No.

She is no longer a child. She has changed. Her eyes are proof of the haunting she experienced – _is experiencing still – _in Hueco Mundo. She is the first human to have endured and lived in that Hell and come back alive to tell the tale.

She has truly changed. The former Inoue Orihime would not have stiffened in his embrace, a hug of gratitude. The former _girl _he knew, so open and affectionate that even Soi Fon and Byakuya had been affected, would not tilt her head upwards to gaze at him in surprise.

Ukitake is greatly relieved when Orihime, a heartbeat later, relaxes in his arms, nestling into his hold, like fledgling finally coming back to its nest. He feels her weariness, which presses on her reiatsu, as it has never done before. He feels his collar become slightly wet, but he is too glad to care. That part of the girl he knew during her month-long training with Rukia in the Seireitei is still there, still _here_.

One fond memory he attaches to her resurfaces.

They had been alone having tea one afternoon, Rukia having left earlier to run some errand. They were talking about many things, but somehow the topic of his illness came up. Ukitake had so casually mentioned that he would die, like he was commenting about the weather, which he could easily do, _easily does,_ because he has resigned himself to this fact. What he had not expected was the horrified, dramatic response it would provoke.

Tears and chiding _not to think like that Ukitake-taichou. _Her care and distress flooded him, enveloping him within the soothing ebb and flow of her warm, healing reiatsu _alike yet so very different from Retsu's. _But most of all he remembers her piercing crystal conviction, an earnestness which he thought only a lover would exhibit to her beloved.

"_I will heal you, Ukitake-taichou. I know my powers are still too weak now, but I promise, I swear on my soul, that I will heal you one day so you will be well again. I will reject your illness so you can do whatever you enjoy without worrying about your health. … Please believe me, Ukitake-taichou!" _He was stunned then, too shock to speak to hear this declaration. He will forever ingrain her following words, _her eyes_ into his soul. _"That is my goal… and the yardstick I will measure myself with. Only when I have achieved __that__, will I be satisfied that I am strong enough." _

He was not being ingratiating or placating when he told her with a genuine, sincere smile that he believed her. Because he knows she will achieve that height in her abilities and give him that peace, that hope which he had long ago abandoned, whether it lasts only for a minute, an hour, a month or a year.

_He will be waiting. _

He had been horrified at Genryuusai-dono's pronouncement of her as a "traitor". Even now, the unspoken word leaves a foul bitterness in his mouth. He had shamefully done little to remedy that during the past month that she has been captured and held by Aizen _a true traitor_, but that will change. From hereon, he will fight for her. To make sure her voice, her version of events will be heard in court. To make sure her innocence is proven and that filthy word will not be chained to her name.

She has made a promise then.

_He has made his now. _

_Zaraki Kenpachi – Venus, his Goddess of War_

He couldn't believe it was her.

Had he not known and memorized her face before, he would not have attached the current one before him to _her. _

"Onna…"

He could feel Yachiru actually going still and staring. Not crying, _since nothing could practically make that brat cry_, just staring, but the _stillness_ is extremely odd for Kenpachi who has only known the pink-haired child to vacillate from excited to very hyper. Madarame muttered a quiet "Oh my God" to his left behind him, and his narcissistic third seat Yumichika breathing out a "Her hair…"

What a sight she was.

Because Yumichika was right. The tumbling waterfall of that unusual sunset hair has been cut short, slashed to a jagged shoulder-length silk flag. A dark bruise blossomed around her left eye, threatening to swallow whole her heart-shaped face. Formerly flawless skin at her arms, shoulders and legs are now stained by purplish-green bruises and cuts –

"It looks worse than it actually feels." _So she finally speaks… _and just like during that month of her stay with _the Princess' (Kuchiki Byakuya) younger sister_, her remarks are to reassure others, to reach past the pain and bring about some peace of mind.

For a bloodthirsty, warmongering creature like him, Zaraki Kenpachi found himself strangely seeking her presence. _He made an exception of her, just like for Yachiru. _For someone who disdained non-fighting and weakness, _he had never once thought her weak. Strange, certainly, who wouldn't be with unique flying fairies which could heal and simultaneously wreak so much damage? _

Kenpachi and the rest of the eleventh division are actually fully aware of how destructive and lethal said Weaving Princess could be – when provoked. All seated and unseated members had been present when she got into an argument with their Captain. As per usual, he had been fighting his squad _rooting out the weaklings, he had said, _and as per custom, he had sent for a fourth division member to heal the soldiers he had cut down. He hadn't expected Unohana to send _her._

He had been about to deliver a final blow to the shinigami on the ground, already prostrate and unable to move when he heard a "Stop it!" He had continued of course, still under the thrill of blood and killing pounding in his veins, when an orange wall met his zanpakuto. The force of his attack was sent back at him through the reverberations in his sword arm, and the ground before him had exploded, sending sand from the training grounds into the air, creating a momentary dust storm.

When the dust settled down, Kenpachi had whirled around, determined to give the person who intervened a good cut down to size – literally – when he was interrupted by a pre-emptive strike.

"I said, Stop it, damnit! Did you not hear me?"

There was absolute silence following that remark.Everyone gazed in shock, even Kenpachi stared at the sight.

And what a sight it was.

Inoue Orihime had been standing on the highest spectators' bleacher on the training grounds with her hands on her hips, the sun behind her lighting up her hair into a flaming halo. And she did not even realize how beautiful she is when she's angry like that. _A fiery, angry Goddess of War. _That had been his first thought. The second was, she had damn fine legs. And lastly had been, "So you could actually swear, Princess?"

She had looked bashful then, blushing, returning to her human form. Kenpachi was inordinately pleased with himself that he had made her blush.

He had paid heed to her lecture afterwards about not killing those already too exhausted to fight back though he did make sure to scoff at the appropriate places. _What does it matter? He had let the weakling off with a heavy punch to the shoulder when the man finally had the strength to shakily stand. _

Kenpachi knew he was no good at comforting, but he had to say _something_. She had come healing all the war casualties, but is about to be taken away for imprisonment and later, interrogation.

There is something he had to do before she is taken away from him.

"Oi Onna." He saw her return his gaze with a patient, expectant one. He nearly lost his nerve at that same look of thoughtfulness and waiting. "You look tough with that new look."

A pause, and then she smiled.

There was exhaustion in it, but it was almost the same one she had given him after that memorable day at the Eleventh Division.

_A radiant, beautiful smile. _

As he watched her placed in shackles and taken away, his hand went briefly to his sword. This would require a different battle tactic, but Kenpachi is always up for challenges, _especially if it involved __her_.

Grinding his teeth in anticipation as he felt his thumb bleed from the uneven edges of his sword, which he ran his thumb over, he grunted.

_He's got work to do. _

_Soi Fon – Not a friend but not an enemy_

She had no fond feelings for the _ryoka_. Not Kurosaki Ichigo or any of the male humans who had previously invaded the Seireitei to rescue Kuchiki Rukia, and _certainly_ not for the female ryoka.

_That _girl_. _

Yes, Soi Fon did not trust her. Her powers were too alien to be understood. _Kurosutchi had expressed interest in her abilities, and that is never a good sign. _So deceptively weak-looking, but so _potent _to be unleashed in the right or wrong way.

_Just like the Hougyoku. _Was it a coincidence that both of them came into Aizen's interest?

Soi Fon did not like her. She remained staunchly aloof and distant even during the month she came to train in the Seireitei. She thought her ditzy, clumsy, too affectionate, too caring, too persuasive, too –

_Too much like Ukitake Juushiro._

_Too much like Yoruichi-sama. _Both of whom Soi Fon had the highest respect for.

Inoue Orihime had been nothing but kind and polite to the Second Division Captain.

Once, gratefully thanking Soi Fon continuously until the latter told her to shut it when the Captain had retrieved both the human girl and a tabby cat from a particularly high tree. Orihime's fairy shield had somehow broke while she was trying to descend, kitten in hand, from the tangling branches in her way. Soi Fon had thought she resembled her bumbling lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda.

Another time, Orihime had encouraged her to take some time to relax _"it must be stressful to be leader of the CIA of Seireitei all the time". _Soi Fon wasn't sure what the CIA was, but had coldly told her that the former is proud to serve the Seireitei with her duty and strength.

She had not expected the girl to take those words to heart.

During the interrogation which all captains and vice-captains, Kurosaki, the Quincy, the giant boy, Rukia, the Vizards, Yoruichi-sama, and _that man _Urahara Kisuke had been present for when Kurosutchi had strapped Orihime into a machine which could delve into past thoughts of the experimentee, _she did not express fear or complaint though her eyes were wide with trepidation; Kurosaki was restrained and spitting obscenities in the background, _Soi Fon _saw everything_.

was exposed to all the rush of emotions the girl had during the past month…

… and the memories of everyone she had kept close to heart to sustain and carry her through during her weeks – _were they only just weeks? – _with the Espada and Aizen.

She _felt _the _ryoka's _cheeriness in her goodbye to Ukitake and the eagerness to return and help her _nakama _during her sprint through the _Dangai_.

Her surge of protectiveness for Hitsugaya, Matsumoto and Kurosaki when the Fourth Espada threatened to kill her friends if she did not come quietly with him. _It didn't matter anymore that Soi Fon, and Orihime, knew that it was a trap. Soi Fon may have been able to fight and kill the Quatro, but she knows Orihime cannot. That the human girl did not fight that way. _

It was a disorienting experience, being tugged from one memory to another, like there was a hook behind her navel.

It was too intimate, too personal.

"_Five lifetimes, and I would choose to fall in love with the same person…"_

"_What does this subject have anything to do with bread?"_

"_No, no Rangiku-san. It's __pi__ not pie."_

"_Inoue, it's sweet."_

"_I thought Toushirou-kun would like ice cream considering your zanpakutou… well, I suppose Toushirou-kun is sweet enough that he doesn't need ice cream. (smile)"_

"_I-Inoue!"_

_(laughter)_

Soi Fon saw each of the human girl's encounters with the Espada.

How she was forced to demonstrate her healing ability by returning Grimmjaw Jaegerjacques' arm. His return of the favour when he destroyed those two Arrancar girls, and his subsequent threat on her life when she refused to heal Kurosaki.

"_Poor girl. She's jealous, and I don't even want what's hers. Poor girl. Poor, stupid girl." _

That had been the female human's thoughts as she was being beaten, slapped and punched within an inch of her life by those two Arrancar girls, Loly and Menoly.

Soi Fon trembled with disgust and rage when she watched one Espada, Nnoitra, approach Orihime with a lick of the lips, stretching fingers and a "Pet-sama".

How Syazel Aporro had drilled the thunder into the tender temples of the screaming girl - Orihime's punishment by Aizen for when she tried to create a message carrier with a glowing orb from her _Shun Shun Rika_ to send to her friends and Soul Society to tell them about how the Hougyoku has a will and conscience of its own.

Tousen had unflinchingly delivered stinging cuts to her back and thighs as additional punishment.

Soi Fon watched the harassment, questions and mind games during her interactions with her jailkeeper, the Quatro Espada.

The slap.

"_Sado-kun is not dead. Sado-kun is not dead." and fond images of the dark, giant boy defending Orihime's usefulness in the Winter War when Urahara had dismissed her out of battle. _

Her tears.

Her prayers.

The captain got the shock of her life when she heard _her_ voice in the girl's mind, her directions to her squad during a training_, which she was unaware the girl had seen,_ about when to strike an enemy as he is approaching. Orihime had been applying those same instructions, readying Tsubaki when Nnoitra was fast approaching with violent lusty intentions.

"_Seven paces. And aim for the neck. That would sever the head."_

Soi Fon could sense Kuchiki Byakuya's surprise when he came up in the girl's memories as well.

"_Byakuya-san, were you ever… daunted by your choice… when pretending to be working for Muramasa? The hostility from the other Captains… Kuchiki-san's sadness… I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked – "_

"_I had a promise I had to keep… to my grandfather. When there comes a time that there is something that only you can do, you would press on with it. The others…they will understand with time. But does it really matter what others think of you, if __you__ know that what you're doing is right?"_

The human girl had been reciting this over and over in her mind when she made the resolve to erase the Hougyoku's existence.

If none of this convinced Soi Fon, what came next would.

The girl's desperation, the fear, the _helplessness _as Kurosaki lay dead on the ground after Ulquiorra Schiffer shot a Cero through the former's chest.

"_Kurosaki-kun, Kurosaki-kun, Kurosaki-kun, Kurosaki-kun"_

"_Ishida-kun! Oh Kami, his hand!-"_

"_What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?"_

"_Tsubaki!" "Onna, concentrate on me or I can't develop! ONNA! I can't – your hysteria – ONNA!"_

"_Orihime-sama!" (her Shun Shun Rika)_

"_What can I do?" What can I do? I'm trying, but what can I do?"_

"_Without Tsubaki, you are virtually without an attack. With a Fourth Division better specialized in healing, it would be better if you stayed out of this battle."_

"_I can't stay out of this, Urahara-san. What can I do? Urahara-san! Yoruichi-san! What can I do? What have you taught me that I can use?"_

"_What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? WHAT CAN I DO?"_

Such was the crushing helplessness, _despair, self-loathing, _and_ sheer helplessness _of that mental and emotional breakdown that Soi Fon felt that she was reeling and retching by the end of it.

She _was_ shivering and retching on the ground, tears in her eyes when that whirlwind _torture_ ended.

She had looked up to see Ukitake with his hand on his mouth, trying to keep his stomach down.

Rukia, Abarai, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had looked sickened, shocked and just speechless.

Urahara Kisuke had for the first time in hermemory looked shocked and ashamed.

Kuchiki Byakuya had been wide-eyed and trembling as he gazed at the tired, prone girl, held standing up only by the leather straps of the machine.

The Soutaichou had an uncharacteristic pitying expression in his eyes.

Nemu, expressionless, emotionless Nemu, was actually looking scared.

For the love of the Soul King, Yachiru was _crying_!

And throughout all this, Orihime was unwilling to look anyone in the eye after such an examination, least of all Kurosaki, who was staring at her, mouth agape.

No one objected when Unohana-taichou, with an uncharacteristic sharp gaze at the Captain-Commander, said that Orihime required bed rest and _no further questioning_.

No, it was enough for Soi Fon.

She knows, _knows for certain _that the girl is no traitor. As she watches Orihime lean against Unohana-taichou with a sigh as they both walk out of the hall, she also knows that she will vote the human female innocent.

No, Inoue Orihime is not her friend, but neither is she Soi Fon's enemy.

Soi Fon is a battle-hardened, jaded warrior. Being on the offense is her strategy, but she has forgotten until today another vital lesson.

_Invincibility lies in the defence._

_Kuchiki Byakuya – Her Gift of Laughter_

Has her hand always been so frail?

Kuchiki Byakuya was watching Orihime out of the corner of his eyes at dinner. He had volunteered his home for the human girl after her checkup with Unohana during the wait of the Soutaichou's verdict: whether she is guilty or not of being a traitor.

He is certain the verdict would be innocent. Had the members of Central 46 still been alive, he would not have had this level of certainty, but with just the Soutaichou to convince…

Even if there is difficulty, he would lend the strength of the Kuchiki Clan's name in Orihime's favour. _Objections of the Clan members be damned._

As he watches the map of blue veins stand out prominently against her slim, delicate hands, _were these really the hands that had healed him and the countless other Shinigami during that final surge which brought about the end of the Winter War in their favour?, _he remembers evenings of bamboo flute duets and cups of honey, ginger tea.

During that month-long training she undertook with Rukia in the Seireitei, she had surprisingly become his daily _Go _partner in the times he could catch between leaving the Sixth Division and dinner. They had fallen into such a familiarity with each, _surprising and unexpected as it was_, but Byakuya never resented it, had, though he would never admit it, welcomed it. _A friend, such an unexpected companion, who understood his loneliness so well._

He remembers how she had so effortlessly made him laugh, not a sardonic chuckle, but a _genuine laugh. _

"_Has Byakuya-san ever tried to threaten to turn him into a hat?" _That joke had been aimed at his fourth cousin, Sakujun, who coveted the title of Clan Head but had not the fortitude nor the character to uphold it; Sakujun, who was so fond of wearing beaver pelt fur.

"_Although I can't help but think he would make a much better throw-rug. Just imagine Byakuya-san, if the rug gets dirty, you can take it out and beat it!"_

Yes, she had returned the gift of laughter back to him.

This gift had been lost since Hisana's death, and embittered by the sting of Rukia's startling resemblance to her older sister, Clan duties, _loneliness, _and the stringent expectations he expected of himself – and of others. Kurosaki Ichigo may have brutally forced him to confront all these issues, but the _reconciling_ and the _healing_, a process which is just as integral as recuperation is for a sick patient, has started and been guided along by this very same woman-child sitting at his dinner table.

There are no regrets in her countenance, simply extreme weariness. Such exhaustion may be expected of Byakuya and older souls like the Soutaichou, Ukitake and Kyouraku, but to see it so clearly in the eyes of a sixteen-year old child _it's inappropriate to consider her a child anymore, but in terms of years, she _is_ a child compared to his two hundred years, _was wrong. That is the plain and unvarnished truth.

That investigative memory interrogation had been intrusive to the point of mentally violating and tarnishing her memories. He himself had _shamefully _not objected to it. Then again, he had not expected how much she took his words, his advice, _his very person and those of her nakama _so very much to heart. He would never have guessed that he would be the bedrock of her determination to erase the Hougyoku.

_And now?_

_And now…_

Now he can understand the toll that Hueco Mundo has placed on this valiant young healer.

He sees it when she _without realizing _cries when she bites into the flavoured, salty fish and rice, how the muscles in her cheeks tighten from the burst of spices in her mouth as they hit her tongue.

_He knows all this because Hisana had once looked like that. When he had married her, their marriage feast and the dinners each night afterwards had provoked the same wonder and reaction from her. It had lessened over time, but never disappeared._

This old, nearly-forgotten memory had been stimulated by Orihime's unknowing use of the same words by Hisana. Byakuya had himself wiped the tears from her cheeks, quietly reassuring her to take her time to have her fill. She had gazed at him so gratefully and sadly with a tinge of embarrassment, _so unfamiliar are these emotions on her features, but so achingly familiar on another dear face, that Byakuya had briefly thought that it was the ghost of Hisana sitting before him, and not Orihime, _before saying, "I don't think I can eat another bite, Byakuya-san."

The use of honorific may have been different in the case of the two women, but Byakuya is surprisingly happy with the more casual form. Hisana had never truly bridged the divide between aristocrat and common folk; had loved him but remained forever mystified and grateful that he had fallen in love with her.

Orihime had unknowingly given him a second chance, and he wishes to do likewise. Kuchiki Byakuya would help her as she has helped him. He wants to see her laugh once more, the laugh that involved a slight tossing back of her sunrise hair and the exposing of her swan-slender throat, the laugh that took away all his tensions and uneasiness.

Because it is Orihime, he lends his shoulder as the silent support for her to lean into, and encourages her to cry into.

Because it is Orihime, who introduced laughter between him and Rukia, he memorises her reiatsu to pinpoint her location and prevent her from hurting herself during her nocturnal sleepwalking. _He catches her just in time as she is about to fall into his koi pond that first night. He hears her whispering frantically, eyes glazed and one hand reaching out, "I can heal you. Wait! Wait! I'm sorry. Forgive me." _

He comforts her with his silent presence when insomnia plagues her.

He does all this without fail, without questioning because he is deeply fond of her, because of all others, she is deserving of happiness and peace of mind.

_And who knows, in giving him a second chance, maybe one day she will become his second chance? _

**A/N **I did not expect that Soi Fon's would be the longest; I had originally intended that for Byakuya's. And yes, Byakuya's account does have reference to my other work 'Jealousy'.

What did you think? Did it work? Reviews and constructive criticisms please!

If I get enough reviews, I might continue with other perspectives from other characters. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto would definitely be my second favourites. Rukia and Renji would be interesting challenges although I must admit that I have not attempted anything with Ichigo and Ishida in any of my fanfics because I find them so defined already in the manga and anime as to be the hardest to capture.

Naturally I do not own Bleach, but if I did, Orihime would _definitely _more character development and background exploration. Wouldn't it be great if Bleach producers made a movie about her and providedher with a power upgrade? :3


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and encouraged me to continue with 'She's no traitor'. After this chapter, I need to take a hiatus due to upcoming exams. Please continue with your reviews nevertheless! You have no idea how touching it is to see readers leave behind a message, which pops up in your email inbox after hours spent on revision.

Much appreciation for your patience and understanding! (P.S. I will leave Yamamoto's and Orihime's POVs until the end – they will form the conclusion of the entire story.)

**She's no traitor**

Hitsugaya Toshirou – _Guardian of her shattered soul_

Hitsugaya would never forget her screams.

They were not the high-pitched, hysterical ones like Hinamori's at her discovery of Aizen's body pinned to the wall.

No, such was the pain within them that at first _there had been no sound emitted. _Then, a low choked wailing, which was intermittently cut off by pain from thousand-voltage electric currents hammered into her temples, by gasping and not getting enough, and at the same time too much, air into her lungs.

Like the screams Orihime is screaming now as she struggled against his hold to beat her head against barred window of her new prison room.

As he held onto the despairing girl, refusing to let go, Hitsugaya thought to how everything came to this.

He had no idea that he meant so much to his human hostess during the little time that he and Matsumoto had spent with her during their reconnaissance mission in the World of the Living before she was captured by Aizen. That is not to say that he was not fond of Inoue Orihime _for he was – and remains fond of her, more so now than ever – _but had it not been for the memory sift that the human girl was subjected to, he would not have realised, would not have _finally understood, _the _extent_ that she cared for him so.

_Nakama._

She thought of him as one of her _nakama_, and never has a word struck such a deep impression within the child prodigy captain as it did when he saw Orihime led away by Unohana.

Could he use his decades of independence and self-reliance as an excuse?

It was no secret that Hitsugaya Toshirou had difficulty making friends. His white hair, teal eyes – _eyes which she had been the first to describe to her female classmates as "the most beautiful pair I've ever seen" – _and his icy demeanour, matching his _zanpakutou_, had alienated him among his peers, whether it was in the West Rukongai or in the classroom of the Seireitei, regardless of the intention or the lack of intention behind his barriers.

So when Orihime had so warmly welcomed him to her home, cheerfully preparing him and his lieutenant with their daily bentos without complaint _regardless of some the strangest combinations which she can cook up, Hitsugaya found himself strangely enjoying minty mushrooms with egg omelette for breakfast, _and assimilating him into the Human World beyond the classroom, he had no idea how to behave himself.

To be given friendship without being asked for something in exchange, to be accepted as a friend without even being asked, had been an unfamiliar and frankly discomfiting experience for Hitsugaya. He searched for deceit, but quickly tossed that option into the trashcan when he quickly analysed Orihime's friendly nature. He tried to discern for ulterior motives and found none.

He kept pondering _why _as he was pulled along to shopping trips and arcades _despite his initial vehement protests. _

He was introduced to fast food, plushie toys and ice cream.

_Why?_

Hitsugaya nearly thought he must have broken some sort of taboo when Orihime's face _dawned into horror _(there's simply no other way of describing it) when she found out he did not know what a _Yoda, hobbit _or _Harry Potter _was.

_Why are you doing this? _

Games of 'Go-Fish' and Monopoly around the kitchen table after dinner.

_Why do you care? _

Movie marathons over the weekend of _Star Wars_, _Lord of the Rings_, and _Harry Potter_. _Somehow, Orihime had managed to convince Madarame, Yumichika, Abarai, Kuchiki and Kurosaki to come over and join in those crazy sessions before the tv on the weekends. _Thus, Hitsugaya was introduced to popcorn, his first sleepovers, DDR, and the highly successful human marketing industry of film and fantasy literature.

_Why, all this, for me?_

The day they had gathered at Orihime's apartment when they noted her absence after the fights with the Espada _the day she was branded as a traitor _had been a movie night to watch _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. _

_Because. _

_Inoue, that's not a reason._

_But it is, Toshirou-kun. __You__ are reason enough. _

He had been a_ coward _that day.

_Me? _

_Yup! Toshirou-kun is more than a good enough reason. (smiles and laughter)_

For not speaking up, for not defending her. He had not doubted her innocence, not once, but he had chosen to remain silent when their group was forcefully escorted back by Zaraki and Kuchiki. As a captain, he understood the Soutaichou's reasoning and followed orders.

As a friend, he had _betrayed her. And she did not even hold him to blame. _

At first, Hitsugaya had thought he would have no further reason to hate Aizen beyond what he did to Hinamori. He had been proved wrong once more when he saw through Orihime's flashbacks of the regenerative tasks of the Arrancar and the Hogyouku and the punitive mind games Aizen submitted her to.

_That near kiss when he stroked her lips and told her to smile. _

_His nonchalance when he watched Syazel Aporro hook her up to those torture devices. _

That very same bastard has caused the emotional and mental breakdown of another of Hitsugaya's important people to protect. It was because of _Aizen _that now, somehow, Orihime is being re-investigated and placed in prison under further notice.

_Something is dreadfully wrong. _

When Hitsugaya heard the news, he and Matsumoto had sped to the joint Captains and Vice-captains meeting with the Soutaichou. _The reasoning had knocked the air clean from his lungs._

The Soutaichou has expressed his understanding of Orihime's situation, but has put forth the startling proposition that her powers must be drained from her. _To avoid another Hueco Mundo. Because she can be taken again by another enemy tempted by her anti-God like powers. She would be too weak to physically defend herself, and Soul Society would need to intervene once more. _

The separation process could kill her considering that the power of the _Shun Shun Rika _is linked to Orihime's strength of will.

Hitsugaya had not been the only one to protest aloud. Another meeting has already been scheduled to debate this proposition.

Now?

Now Hitsugaya is using his strength and the reassurance that he knew Orihime drew from his icy reiatsu and _Hyourinmaru _to stop her from injuring herself on the prison bars of her window. Just before he and Matsumoto had entered her cell in the Barbican of Atonement, the sister tower to the Tower of Penitence, Kurosutchi had exited her cell, having successfully fought the human girl and took away her hairpins.

_That _was when the screams had started once more.

"Inoue, don't! Stop it!" The crying girl raised her grey-amethyst eyes, now shimmering with diamond tears, to meet his teal ones.

"Nii-chan…Sora-nii-chan…He took away Sora-nii-chan's hairpins…" Orihime gasped out before letting loose another heartbreaking scream. "Nii-chan…Onii-chan…his gift…promise…my promise…to treasure them…AAAHHUHHH!"

Hitsugaya sensed and recognized the approaching reiatsu of both Kuchiki siblings, Kurosaki, the Quincy, Unohana, and Yasutora. He forced them back with his own reiatsu.

"My soul…he has torn my soul…away from me…AAAHHUHHH…Sora-nii-chan! Why?"

When Kuchiki Byakuya and Kurosaki reached for Orihime, Hitsugaya's reiatsu pulsed furiously, his eyes glowing aquamarine, before a physical ice wall appeared, separating him, Inoue and Matsumoto from the rest of the others. Hitsugaya could not care less when Kurosaki started pounding on the wall, his voice muffled by the ice in between them. Hitsugaya urged Hyourinmaru to shield Orihime from view, the dragon's misty breath wrapped around the girl like a downy, cold veil.

_Nothing was more important than her. Nothing is more important than Inoue at this moment. _

Hitsugaya realizes that for all the talk about him being a child prodigy he is inadequate. _Incapable of protecting those who needed him, and who he needed in turn. _

_Hinamori from Aizen._

_Matsumoto from Ichimaru._

_And now, Orihime from Aizen and the interrogation of the Soutaichou and Kurosutchi. _

Orihime clung to him now, crying into his haori, no longer struggling to break free from his tight embrace. She cried, screamed, and cried some more, and all the while, Hitsugaya merely rocked her back and forth, held her, carding his fingers through her hair. He felt the others leave until only Kuchiki Byakuya and Unohana were left.

Still, he waited. _His barrier would not break without her consent. He will stay as she needs him for._

_Like what she had healed within him, like how she gave his childhood back to him._

Finally, even the tears and trembling stopped.

"Toushirou-kun" That drew Hitsugaya's attention. Tired, puffy red, beautiful, grey eyes met his guiltily. "I'm so sor-"

"No." Hitsugaya cut in, his voice raspy with unshed tears. He lifted his hands until his fingers rested gently against her temples. He noted the flinch that coursed through Orihime's body. His own heart clenched bitterly.

"Don't apologise for something that is not your fault."

Keeping only the tips of his fingers on her sunset hair, he watched Orihime as he silently, mentally instructed Hyourinmaru to weave, to take care.

Orihime felt a cool circlet wreathe her head. She gazed into the ice wall and quietly gasped. Toushirou-kun is making a laurel for her. It took form with intricate tiny leaves and silver flowers. He has made a replica of her Shun Shun Rika to protect her temples while the centerpiece of the laurel took on the shape of a different flower.

_No, it is a star, the same star on the clip which_ _he attached Hyourinmaru. _

Orihime allowed her reiatsu to reflect her happiness and her silent tears. _She had none left to cry._

Hitsugaya leant his head on the crown of Orihime's as she gently burrowed her face into the crook of his neck. As his thoughts whipped through his observations _Orihime's recovery (which he can already feel), Hinamori's continued sadness and occasional delusions, Matsumoto's distant gaze, the possibility that he might love Orihime more than Hinamori_, Hitsugaya whispered two words.

"_I'm_ sorry."

_But no matter what, I shall always protect you – no matter how inadequate I may be._

Matsumoto Rangiku –_ Eve Before the Fall_

Rangiku loves Orihime for many reasons. The both of them are actually so similar. _Not just physically with their big breasts and naturally attractive looks._

_Unrequited love._

_Jealousy._

_Loneliness._

_The strength to hide all of the above. _

Rangiku sees in Orihime, the younger, more innocent sister that she had always wanted but never had. But most of all, she sees herself in Orihime. _A more pure and optimistic self. _

And that's why, Rangiku is so determined that the pretty human girl will not repeat the same mistakes that Rangiku has done.

_Not to be jaded and self-depreciating._

_Not to feel awkward and unhappy about her body._

_Not to turn towards the bottle for solace and comfort._

_Not to turn to sex, no matter how willing the other party, for one-night love, which is not love but merely physical lust. _

Rangiku knows that she cannot relive herself through Orihime, that the other girl has her own life to live, but she'd been damned if she sees Orihime put herself down for an emotionally-dense boy.

_Don't make the same mistakes that I did._

Orihime may not know this, but she is much braver than Rangiku will ever be. Suffering through that month in Hueco Mundo, bravely stepping up to the challenges of a tyrant and taunts of the Vasto Lorde, while forming her own counterplans, and keeping intact her sanity and kindness is not something everyone can accomplish.

Likewise, not anyone will find the time and the _care _within herself to defend a complete stranger in the Human World's peer-pressure classrooms. Technically, Rangiku still counted as a stranger to Orihime even if she had at that point stayed over for just over a week at the younger girl's apartment.

When some s_empai_s, upperclassmen, published in the school newspaper demeaning remarks and dirty insinuations about her breasts and open uniform _because she had turned them down for dates and sex_, Orihime had been the one to tell the first-year and second-year students to stop distributing the newspaper.

"_Any problems or complaints about stopping the circulation, I will bear them. But please tell everyone to stop delivering the newspapers and to take them to the Recycling Bin."_

It had not just been about herself. Pointless scathing comments had been made about taichou, Yumichika and Ikakku as well. Things to do with _punks who think too highly of themselves, who have no fashion sense, etc. _It was a pity that Ichigo had been absent from school that day, that week. Had he been there, he would have seen an unfamiliar, strong and independent side to his friend.

Orihime had taken the initiative to send a copy of the paper to the principal, requesting a public written apology that was _sincere_. What was most astonishing perhaps was when she decided to skip the beginning of class to speak with those senior students _by herself_. Unknowingly their heated conversation in the Newspaper Club's room had been broadcasted live to every classroom with a speaker.

Rangiku will never forget the climax of the argument when the sempai insisted his lack of blame and his unwillingness to write any sort of apology.

"_Have you __any__ idea what this would do to the reputation of my friends?"_

"_Sempai, if you were in the actual journalism industry, you would already be sued for libel!"_

"_Do not raise your head on me, sempai! I know black-belt karate to defend myself!"_

"_I am not threatening you sempai. I am just saying that the ball is in your court as to what you __choose__ to do now."_

"_Sempai, as long as sensei does not criticize Rangiku-san's uniform, __you__ have no right to either."_

"_How can you print such, such __lies__ and __despicable bullocks__? Have you even spoken with any of them or are you just going by stereotypes?"_

"_Rangiku-san is beautiful and is not afraid of admitting that she is. Don't you dare call her a slut!"_

No one had ever defended Rangiku so vocally and unashamedly.

Gin had _silently _defended her honour by murdering those whom he considered took a step too far.

_Arbitrary Russian Roulette. _

Nanao-chan, probably Rangiku's closest female confidant, would chide Rangiku about her dress habit in private, even agreeing with Rangiku about the demeaning aggressor would be done behind closed doors.

Rangiku knows that now is not the time as she watches her _taichou_ comfort Orihime behind their ice wall, but she will make sure that once Orihime-chan is relaxed, she will thank the younger girl for all that she has done, _for all that Rangiku could not do._

She will thank Orihime not only for defending her at school, thinking about her in the _Dangai _when the Cuatro Espada threatened to take Rangiku's life, but also for healing Gin in Hueco Mundo.

Kurosutchi's machine had shown Orihime staining her hands with Gin's blood as she removed glass shards from his wounds after an encounter with an unusually angry Aizen. The young healer had patiently stitch by stitch sewed Gin's wounds closed in the dark. Aizen had forbidden her to use her fairies to heal Gin. That had not stopped Orihime from using her fairies to provide the necessary light as she knelt beside the former Shinigami captain all the night through until the task of disinfecting his wounds was finally done.

She had overheard Izuru and Shuuhei briefly mention that when Rangiku held and let go of Orihime's hand during their walk up to Kurosutchi's memory contraption during the interrogation _it was like watching an older sister losing her younger sibling. _

Rangiku wished that she had only been more courageous to refuse and argue against the whole interrogation itself.

_Thank you._

_A thousand times thank you, Orihime, for your kindness which I don't deserve. _

As she gazed at the sleeping girl in the Fourth Division bed now after Unohana had Orihime removed from the Barbican, Rangiku knew that _now_ was the time to show her gratitude. _To prove Orihime's innocence._

_Orihime, her sister in everything but blood and name, the Other Her, would not die nor have her powers drained from her, not if Rangiku had a say about it, not if Rangiku still has breath left within her._

Kyouraku Shunsui – _All saints have a past, all sinners have a future_

Shunsui stared into his drink as he sat with Jyuushiro in the latter's _bonsai _garden.

"Not sake tonight?"

Shunsui looked up at his best friend, unable to even muster up his usual happy-go-lucky smile. That should have been a warning sign to anyone that something was extremely wrong.

"Too bitter."

Shunsui notices his friend's puzzled glance as he takes a sip from the cup. Jyuushiro meets his gaze in surprise.

"Wine?" The look of surprise manages to draw an empty chuckle and a shell of Shunsui's grin back to the surface as he replies.

"Hai. … It was actually Orihime-chan who introduced me to this."

"What!"

Shunsui takes a long swig of the golden, nearly amber liquid, swilling the mouthful for a bit. A honey-like sweetness _not cloyingly sweet though _flows down his throat before it is immediately followed by a scorching by some unknown spice _or was it fruit? _before there is a hint of –

"The sourness does not seem to be sourness." Jyuushiro commented.

"Not quite, Jyuu. You're right. It's not exactly sourness because it's something else."

"What is it, Shun? It doesn't taste like pomegranate."

Kyouraku paused, taking another mouthful, before he replied.

"Tears."

_And he then remembers that night._

_That wholely unsuspecting night during the month when the pretty human was training in the Seireitei with Rukia-chan, when she showed up without announcement outside the door of his barracks._

He had been left without a drinking partner that night.

Matsumoto was in the Human World, as is Abarai-kun.

Kira and Hisagi had been involved in training and reinforcements, the wound from the betrayal of their captains had stung deeply. Their way to deal with it: work.

And of course, Nanao-chan had been away running some errand. Her staunch ethics would not even let her consider drinking sake with her taichou while on the job.

So he had been drinking when he heard a timid tap on his doorframe and then an unexpected voice, "Kyouraku-taichou?"

He had looked up then to see the former female _ryoka _Inoue Orihime standing on the porch with a wooden crate in her hands.

"Orihime-chan? How may I help you?"

The young girl had hesitated before approaching him. "Would you care to try this wine with me?" He had been surprised and shocked.

"I didn't know you drink, Orihime-chan. Your secret?" he teased her, though his eyes observed her reactions sharply.

"Oh I don't, Kyouraku-taichou. Actually… that is why I'm here. I wanted to ask you to teach me how to drink."

Shunsui had been caught off guard the second time within the span of five minutes.

"Teach you how to drink?" he wondered if he had heard wrong.

"Yes… if it would not inconvenience you… Rangiku-san told me how you enjoyed…" Orihime blushed. Shunsui tried to ease her back into a comfort zone by laughing.

"I don't mind. And it's true that I am fond of drinking, though I generally have a preference for sake."

"Oh I see." Shunsui watched the disappointment on her features. Despite her odd request, he cannot sense malice or seduction as her aims.

"Come here anyways, and let's see what we've got." Smile brightening, Orihime came within a respectful distance before she gently set down the wooden crate. "Does Rukia-chan know you're here?"

Flush and guilty look.

"N-no, she doesn't. I did not wish to worry her or Byakuya-san. Nor do I wish to lower Byakuya-san's opinion of me. Today he has a late patrol so this should not bother him." Shunsui quirked an eyebrow. If he did not know better, _that Orihime-chan had a very obvious crush on Ichigo, _he would have thought that she seemed to care quite a bit for –

"Kyouraku-taichou?" Grey-amethyst eyes _how unusual though very pretty _peered curiously at him.

"Betsuni. I just got distracted by Orihime-chan's loveliness."

Carmine stole over the human girl's features once more.

"No, no taichou. I've never thought of myself like that…" _No lies there._

"You should call me Shunsui instead. Kyouraku-taichou is so formal-"

"Oh I couldn't. That would be disrespectful."

"I'm not your captain, you know, Orihime-chan?"

"Still…it would be improper…very well, Shunsui-san..."

"Hmm…better. Now Orihime-chan, why do you want to learn how to drink? To be honest, it can't really be taught."

"It can't?" Orihime sounded so distraught that Shunsui rethought about his own supposed understanding of women.

"Generally, it's a matter of building up alcohol tolerance over time."

"Shunsui-san, you misunderstand me. I'm not trying to improve my tolerance level of alcohol. I – I am drinking because … I want to forget."

That was not the answer Shunsui was expecting. Forget? That is something that someone with regrets and bitterness would try. The fact that Orihime-chan did not take sake sounds like she already tri-

"I've already tried sake, Shunsui-san, but sake only amplifies the feelings of the drinker. It can't help me forget. So I thought I would try wine." Solemn greys met Shunsui's brown irises head on. "Rangiku-san once told me that alcohol heals the pain within you, the hurt or loneliness. How you would feel _happy, peaceful…"_

Throughout their conversation, the both of them had been sampling the strange wine. _Sweet. Easy to drink, especially for beginners. _Shunsui glanced over at the girl, noticing the light pink flush on her cheeks until a glimmer of light caught on her cheek. _Tears? Crying?_

"Orihime-chan?" Shunsui had never seen a drinker like her before. _Not drinking for pleasure. Not drinking for leisure. And certainly not a drinker who has steadily downed two whole bottles of such wine but exhibited not the slightest trace of drunkenness, except for a light flush which could pass for rouge or a blush. And certainly Shunsui had never met a drinker who could still smile so tragically with tears running down her cheeks… _

"Shunsui-san, why is the feeling not coming? I must be drinking wrong. Where is that glowing feeling that Rangiku-san mentioned?" Slight panic seemed to colour her distress and solemnity. Grey diamonds floored the Shinigami captain as he found himself uncertain as to how to proceed.

"Why is it that I can't do anything right? I am too weak to fight in combat. I am a burden to all my friends. And now, something as simple as drinking, trying to be drunk, I cannot do either." Silent sobs and continual tears fell from her cheeks to the cherry wood table, darkening the ochre shade of wood.

Throughout all this, Orihime continued to gracefully swallow copious amounts of wine.

"What are you trying to forget, Orihime-chan?"

The girl looked at him for a moment, perhaps gauging whether or not to tell him. Reaching a decision, she smiled sadly.

"Kurosaki-kun." _Ahh, young love. Unrequited love._

"Kurosaki-kun is not emotionally developed, Orihime-chan. You should know that. I bet you that the thought of love has not even crossed his mind. Have you tried telling hi-"

"No, I haven't, Shunsui-san. It wouldn't matter anyways. Kurosaki-kun likes Kuchiki-san."

"Rukia-chan?" _Again, how odd that she should call Rukia-chan 'Kuchiki-san' but be comfortable enough to call Byakuya 'Byakuya-san'…_

"Kurosaki-kun may not realize it, but it shows in his eyes. Only Kuchiki-san can make him smile, snap him out of his depression…something that I cannot do, no matter how much I care for him…love him… he cannot see me, Shunsui-san."

Reaching out, Shunsui disentangled the bottle from Orihime's grasp, his sympathy rising.

"Enough, Orihime-chan."

"No please Shunsui-san, maybe one more glass."

"Orihime-chan, you're not the type of person to turn to alcohol to solve your problems. Which is a good quality you know. Look at Nanao-chan's criticisms about me. Haha! As for that comfort that you, we are seeking, sometimes it comes to you, sometimes it doesn't. The pain, though, is never really gone. It can fade, dull, but it's never gone."

Shunsui then felt himself getting a taste of his own medicine when Orihime gazed quietly at him. _Eyes which pierce, which could see beyond. Understanding. Melancholy. _

"I see." She gently reclaimed the wine bottle from Shunsui. Orihime poured herself and the Captain another full glass.

"We don't choose who we fall in love with, do we, Shunsui-san?" Said captain felt as if the tables were turned on him. _This human girl could understand, could feel, knows __his__ secret… which wasn't really a secret if anyone looks past it carefully enough…reading between the lines._

"That's what makes love so special though." Orihime calmly drank the honeyed wine, her tears never stopping to flow into the cup, into the wine bottle and the other jars. Gazing out of the shoji doors towards the full moon, she whispered, "_If love were a choice, who would choose such exquisite pain?"_

She smiled at Shunsui, her reiatsu much more stable. "But I hope you know Shunsui-san, Ise-san does care for you. She is just more… subtle about it."

"I could say the same for you and Ichigo-kun."

Orihime shook her head. "Kurosaki-kun is a very polite person, protective. I'm sure he knows of my feelings. How can he not when everyone else can see it, think me a fool for it?"

Shunsui reached out, hand on her hand. "You are not being foolish, Orihime-chan. If there is someone who deserves to be called that, well, that would apply to our boy in question."

The smile Shunsui received in return is one given in politeness, when one agrees so as to not cause disputes when in reality one disagrees. "Maybe the drinking didn't work because I actually had a goal in mind." Shunsui regards Orihime with curiousity.

"A goal?"

"I was drinking to forget, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say, I was drinking to let go of Kurosaki-kun. My… affections for him are tying me down. I think it's time for me to move on. Not necessarily to go to another boy, just to think about myself a little more instead. Think of myself first. Do you think that is selfish, Shunsui-san?"

"No. That sounds like self-preservation."

"Shunsui-san sounds like he doesn't agree." Orihime waits for the Captain's reply which was not forthcoming. "Shunsui-san, I am not you. Nor is Kurosaki-kun, Ise-san."

"You're quite perceptive, Orihime-chan."

"No, I can feel your – I can empathize with you." Shunsui is grateful she doesn't say _pain_.

She continued. "I just never realised that letting go of someone … would be so painful." Two more tears rolled down.

"This will be the last time I shall ever cry over him."

Shunsui-san glances in surprise at the girl's resolution. Orihime sheepishly smiles back at him.

"I have a feeling I will break this vow easily, but it's the first step in the right direction. It's like a New Year's resolution, easily broken, but worth trying to achieve. Won't you wish me luck, Shunsui-san?"

Shunsui's smile was heavy as he gently clinked his bottle of wine against hers. "Only if you wish me the same luck with my sweet Nanao-chan."

Orihime paused before the bottle met her lips. "Shunsui-san, don't give up." Shunsui mirrored her actions, not drinking his wine. "The difference between Ise-san and you, and me and Kurosaki-kun is that Ise-san already cares for you, already knows about your regards towards her. … If I were not so content right now, I could almost be jealous of you, Shunsui-san."

Orihime smiled at him, before she resumed drinking her wine. She did not notice Shunsui not drinking his, just thoughtfully looking at her.

It was after that bottle that Orihime had cushioned her head within her arms on the edge of the table and promptly fell fast asleep. Two minutes after that, Shunsui had faced the repressed simmering wrath of Kuchiki Byakuya, who scanned the table and floor's neat organization of empty wine bottles before narrowing his eyes at Shunsui. Without a word _at four in the morning Shunsui later realised _Kuchiki Byakuya disappeared with Inoue Orihime safely cradled in his arms, still asleep.

Shunsui arrives to the end of his story as he sets down the wine bottle.

"So you spoke with the wine maker, told him about this new recipe, and encouraged him to change the wine name to "Red Hibiscus River"?"

"You don't miss anything do you, Jyuu?" The white-haired man gave a tired nod before they both turned their eyes towards the Barbican of Atonement, white from the moonlight, like an obelisk against the darkness.

Shunsui had heard Orihime's screams. _Who hadn't? _It would be the same as with Rukia-chan. He and Jyuu would protest, and if needed fight Yama-jii.

Shunsui remembers the words of one of his former professors, now gone like so many other.

"Some measure of peace, all of us seek, yet few of us so ever find."

Shunsui may be uncertain as to whether alcohol would provide that 'measure of peace', but he does know, that of so many souls both living and dead, Orihime-chan is deserving of that peace.

_He will make sure she gains it. _

**A/N **And here we are, phew. This is the longest piece that I've ever written. I doubt you can notice my favouritism towards a certain Shiro-chan, right? *sheepish rub of the head

But yes, our Weaving Princess will not get outright pardon or amnesty. What will happen?

You need to review to find out. :) Please, please, please review. As always I look forward to reading your feedback and building upon your suggestions. (This is one piece that I've actually pulled an all-nighter so I could finish it among other things.)

So please review!

And yes, everything belongs to Tite Kubo, except the Barbican of Atonement, which was my creation.

P.S. I based Orihime's screams on Natalie Dormer's wonderful performance as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors when she's watching her brother and supposed lovers get beheaded. Watch it on Youtube. She is an amazing actress!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N **The much anticipated and asked for chapter 3 is finally here! *please don't maim me* I've been kept particularly busy through all sorts of… Life's curveballs. Rather than explain myself, I just want to thank you all of you readers and reviewers for your patience and encouragement.

Thank you Lady Madland for your review. While I did not mean to worsen your cold, I am happy to know that you enjoyed my portrayal of Orihime. Thank you also for favouriting me as an author. It really means a great deal to me.

Wolfchick55, your review did make a great difference even though I couldn't update for a long time. I remembered you when I was typing this chapter.

MadMissMissy, thanks so much for reviewing so many (I think you reviewed nearly all or all my stories?!) This chapter partly happened thanks to you and your reviews.

Kat(guest), thanks for urging me to force myself to update. (Did you miss my writing that much? :)

Shippoliver, thank you so much for your faithful reviews on my stories, including the non-ByaHime ones. *sends you a hug*

Also, to everyone else following _She's No Traitor, _a very very big thank you to all of you, complete with a Byakuya and Toushirou plushie :D

Without further ado, this is, my mentally-dubbed flower power, girl POV chapter.

**She's no traitor **

_**Kurosutchi Nemu – To fascinate is to fear and to delight**_

She wasn't supposed to feel like this.

_Fear. Confusion. Was this ache within her chest – an aching which never stops – possibly… regret? Sadness? _

She wasn't supposed to feel these alien … _emotions. _Mayuri-sama had never programmed her to feel these _stirrings_. Heat. Radioactive particles and poisons, yes. But not feelings. Mayuri-sama had said there was no _use_ for feelings, no use for _her _to have feelings. And Nemu had always accepted this as easily as she accepted being slapped and whacked about by her 'father'.

How could she not? Mayuri-sama was her creator, is her father, her world.

What he deemed necessary, she wholeheartedly deemed necessary. What he considered important, she considered important. That was how it worked, and Nemu was fine with that. _Honestly. _

She never understood why others looked at her oddly when she stood motionless and accepting of Mayuri-sama's abuses and insults, accepting all his criticisms of her faults without batting an eye. Granted, she was aware that other captains within the Gotei 13 did not operate like Mayuri-sama. Ukitake-taichou certainly did not. The sickly white-haired captain had never, for as long as Nemu could remember since her 'birth', raised a hand against his subordinates. Even Zaraki-taichou who always hacked, sliced and cut apart his underlings had never _truly _insulted Yachiru-fukutaichou despite the occasional callous words, which the president of the Seireitei's Shinigami Women's Association did not mind.

_Ken-chan is just like that. _The tiny pink energy ball would chirp before sinking her teeth into another pile of sweets, _surprisingly the courtesy of Kuchiki-taichou_.

Sometimes some brave soul would ask her why she would put up with Mayuri-sama's behavior. She would reply back _why not? _Nobody understood the precarious, fragile relationship between her and her father. She can't say that she loves him _what an odd word, love, _but she would unquestioningly do anything for her father, her Creator, her world.

Another person had once expressed horror at Mayuri-sama's treatment of her. Nemu's eyes took on a more prominent glaze as she fiddled about with test tubes, absentmindedly _instinctively _noting the different temperatures of the various beakers on the lab table in the Twelfth Division.

The Quincy boy. _His name is Ishida Uryuu. _

Nemu pushed aside the observation that her cheeks were seven degrees warmer than usual. _The air in the lab is simply warm. That was all there was to it. Nothing more, nothing less._

He had so loudly questioned the Twelfth Division's head scientist's behavior in slapping and kicking his own daughter _when she was injured. _She remembers his look of outrage so well for some reason. No one had defended her so vocally or shown that they cared in the same way. _Not even Yachiru-fukutaichou, _despite the latter naming her vice-president of the SWA and praising Nemu's assistance_. _

Nemu stopped stirring a beaker. She noted belatedly that her hands were trembling. _Actually there was another person. _Ishida Uryuu may have been the _first _to show a degree of care and sympathy that she had never experienced from anyone, but _one other person_ had shown Nemu an inordinate amount of kindness and friendship for no gain or reason.

Nemu couldn't understand why her hands couldn't stop shaking.

_Inoue Orihime. _

_Why couldn't her hands stop shaking?_

Nemu carefully set down one of the flasks so as to not risk dropping it. That would only warrant her another beating from Mayuri-sama, and she knew better than to behave like a novice unseated Shinigami, like she didn't know better. Then uncharacteristically, she stared off into space, watching a scene that she had carefully filed away in her memory storage play again on the backs of her eyelids.

_It was during the month that the ryoka girl was training with Kuchiki Rukia…_

She had been observing _Bururu-chan _as Yachiru-fukutaichou has dubbed her on Mayuri-sama's excited whispers and harsh orders. The human girl had never noticed Nemu observing her in the foliage and shadows of the trees near the Thirteenth Division's training grounds. Neither did she know of Nemu's grudging respect for her progress in her offensive and defensive powers during those four weeks nor of Nemu's slight jealousy that Mayuri-sama was devoting so much time _and actually being excited_ over Orihime as his new experiment. During her breaks or when the younger Kuchiki had to temporarily leave to run minor errands for Ukitake-taichou, the female human would be dragged around by Yachiru and occasionally sit in on one of their SWA sessions.

One day, Yachiru had taken both the human girl and Nemu to one of her outskirt play spots on the fringe of the Seireitei. Somehow or other, in an effort to make sure Yachiru didn't hurt herself frolicking about near the riverbank, Nemu had twisted her ankle. The sickening snapping sound had resounded loudly in that mossy area.

"Nemu-san! Nemu-san! Are you alright?!" Nemu found herself caught in Orihime's arms with the latter looking at her in concern.

"I will be fine," she automatically responded. Nemu found herself speechless when Orihime gently cradled her ankle.

"Is it this foot, Nemu-san? May I heal you?" Nemu was not thinking about what a golden opportunity this would be for Mayuri-sama as she felt the warm glow of the healing shield surround her ankle. She did not know what to think when Orihime instructed Yachiru to run ahead and inform Isane Kotetsu to get the first aid kit ready because Nemu's injury was not wholly healed by Inoue's Shun Shun Rika.

What stunned Nemu the most was when the human girl kneeled with her back facing her, smiling at her to _hop on. _Nemu had intoned that it was unnecessary but was met back with equal stubbornness. _Your ankle is not fully healed yet! Oh by the way, I'm sorry about that but it seems my healing ability hasn't reached that stage yet. You might hurt your ankle even more if you put pressure on it, Nemu-san! _So Kurosutchi Nemu had found herself hesitantly putting her arms around Inoue Orihime as the other girl gently, with a surprisingly firm grip, carried her the whole distance back to the Fourth Division.

At the entrance back into the centre of Seireitei, Nemu had stiffened. Immediately, Orihime had asked her _what's wrong? _Answering in the negative, Nemu felt vulnerable when the other girl carefully gazed at her, straight in the eye. _Is there another way to the Fourth Squad, Nemu-san? _This led Nemu to question herself how a complete stranger could read her subtle discomfort so easily when those in the Seireitei who knew her decades longer did not.

She had tried to convince the human to let her walk…in vain.

"_Mayuri-sama can fix me when I get back."_

"_Is that before or after he… gets upset?" _had been the uncharacteristically sharp response. Nemu was wide-eyed for once at the protective warmth she sensed in Orihime's reiatsu.

"_I understand that you greatly respect Kurosutchi-taichou, Nemu-san, but … are you…happy in the Twelfth Division?" _That had been the greatest shock and prediction which Nemu did not foresee. It was the first time that anyone had asked her if she was happy. No one had ever deemed it important to ask what _she _wants. 

And for the time, Nemu found herself wondering, questioning different variables and 'what if's.

"_Yes, I am." _That had been her answer, although Nemu was not certain if that was the truth. Even now, she does not know. She remembers Inoue-san's final glance before she saw – what was it? – acceptance.

"_Good. I'm happy then if Nemu-san is okay with it."_

Inoue-san had afterwards carried her to the Fourth Squad via a longer route, generally chatting about random topics and occasionally engaging Nemu in answering or simply humming a tune which Nemu did not recognize. During those ten minutes, Nemu forgot about Mayuri-sama's orders to utilize every opportunity to take blood and hair samples. She had considered the chance as she gazed at the girl's slender neck. Nemu was extremely skilled with a syringe. The prick could be passed off for a mosquito bite. But Nemu did not move her hands, feeling an uncertain mood grasp her then. She was just … _content _to allow herself this one moment when someone else took notice and took care of her.

It was that memory which caused Nemu to feel nauseous and fidgety when she accompanied Mayuri-sama to the Barbican of Atonement to collect Inoue-san's hairpins.

_Why can't her hands stop shaking?_

She had lingered behind in the shadows of the doorway when Mayuri-sama confronted Inoue-san. She did not dare step into the prison room. She did not want to see Inoue-san's possible reaction – would she be disgusted, angry, hurt? Nemu did not know why but she could not bear the thought that Inoue-san would look at her with the same look that others in the Seireitei generally gave her – _disgust, awkwardness, incomprehension_. _Is this what fear feels like? _

Nemu's hands had trembled when she was exposed to the human girl's emotions during the memory sift. No one had noticed because she was clenching one of the levers so tightly that her hands became white from all the tension. _How can one person have so much pent up emotion within them? How can one person __feel __so much? _No one detected her trembling or the clammy sweat on the back of her neck when it was proposed that Inoue-san be drained of her powers.

Nemu simply does not want to do that. She does not want to put any machinery on the other girl at all because at the end of the memory-delving interrogation, Inoue Orihime had reminded Nemu of someone as she stood resigned, exhausted, and tired.

_Like me. She looked like me._

And that was not right in Nemu's eyes. She does not know why she feels so strongly against that image, but she only knows that it is not right. The whole process and this incessant debate about whether or not to terminate Inoue-san simply are not right.

Nemu came to the realization that she does not want to see the other girl hurt.

_She doesn't know why she feels this way. _

_And she doesn't want to know why._

_**Unohana Retsu – Cradling Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand**_

Unohana Retsu is angry.

This fact in itself is enough cause for concern considering the mild-tempered Fourth Division's Captain outstanding patience.

Unohana Retsu is angry and _frowning_.

_Hell has just arrived and is waiting for the slightest provocation to release itself in all its manta-ray stinging glory. _

This would explain why the Fourth Division, despite being busier than ever in the aftermath of Aizen's demise, was much quieter than usual, carrying via each seated and unseated Shinigami a heavy atmosphere of unease, tension and strain.

_When will the rubber band, stretched to its extremities, break?_

She had explicitly warned the Soutaichou and by extension _Kurosutchi Mayuri, the Soul King damn his unethical soul!,_ to stay away from Inoue Orihime and causing her undue distress. The latter thus proceeds to accost, mock and forcibly take away Inoue-san's hairpins in the Barbican of Atonement. Unohana Retsu had never so strongly disliked her self-proclaimed Rival more than during this trying transition period between war and peace.

_Because in truth, she was frightened… for Inoue Orihime_, and not simply in terms of the legal deliberation of the young girl's innocence. As a healer first and foremost, Unohana Retsu fears for the mental health of her patient. Post-traumatic stress disorder is extremely probable in the present case. The fact that Orihime had not gone into shell shock was surprising in itself given her treatment at Hueco Mundo, witnessing Kurosaki Ichigo's transformation into a Vasto Lorde, and the amount of reiatsu she had used in the Final Battle to revive and heal the Shinigami, and ultimately to _break the Hogyouku. _

But most frightening of all is the beginning symptoms the young mortal girl is exhibiting of mental and emotional collapse.

The fourth division Captain has been around in the Seireitei for nearly as long as the Soutaichou, and the various wounds she had seen accumulated from all these years are not to be trifled with. Physical wounds are dreadful, no question, but it is mental wounds and mental scarring which prove even more painful in identifying, diagnosing, and treating. Shinigami are soldiers. They are trained during the Academy to be soldiers. As such, they are expected to behave as soldiers. _Fight first, personal repercussions later._ Inoue Orihime is no different. In trying to outwit Aizen, she had used all the resources she had available to her to defeat him. During that month in Hueco Mundo, she had been forever living in the moment – _plotting, planning, counteracting, suffered torture. _

But now, now that she no longer needs to work against a force, now that she no longer has any control and must relinquish her entire wellbeing into the hands of a ghost court, the mental strain which she had been placed under are finally catching up and showing themselves.

_The screaming in the Barbican of Atonement and attempted suicide…_

Thank the Kami that Hitsugaya Toushirou had prevented that –

_The nightmares, the sleepwalking…_

Unohana Retsu remembers Kuchiki Byakuya's somber visage as he whispered of Orihime's insomnia and near-fatal encounter from tumbling into his koi pond from nocturnal sleepwalking -

And the Healing Division's Captain remembers painfully clearly how she firsthand encountered Orihime's manifesting symptoms. _It had been after the mind-sift interogation which the young girl had allowed herself to be subjected to…_

"_Unohana-taichou, please don't feed me. I'm not hungry! I'm not hungry!" _Orihime had whimpered when the captain had shown the young girl the drip and the intravenous fluids which she wanted the dehydrated and malnourished girl to consume. Although Kurosutchi's machinery had shown the young girl being fed three meals a day, Orihime had instead lost weight – drastically.

When Unohana had peeled back the sleeves of Orihime's white Espada uniform, she couldn't prevent a sharp intake of breath. _The soft skin between the forearm and shoulder had been peppered with scars of needle points, _clear marks of force-feeding via IV drips. Ulquiorra Schiffer had acted true to his warning if his charge did not eat willingly…

Unohana shuffled the files in her hands absently into a manila folder. She had no need to see the images in her hands. They have been seared into memory already.

Photos of scarred legs and back, needle injuries, bruises on a beautiful pale face, a swollen eye, and X-ray scans of broken teeth and a broken rib – _no, Unohana Retsu had no need to review her files. Not even a fool would forget those horrible images after a first glance…_

And these photos will be shown at this second meeting of Captains and Vice-captains to deliberate on Inoue Orihime's innocence. Unohana can already imagine the plunge in temperature from Hitsugaya's anger, and the rise in suppressed reiatsu of Kuchiki Byakuya…

Ah yes, Kuchiki Byakuya … and Inoue Orihime…

_Who would have guessed?_

Unohana Retsu has never been the prying type. She doesn't have to be when her deductions in sizing-up the characters of her fellow Shinigami captains tend to be always accurate. However, she would never have guessed the affinity and affection the Sixth Division Captain would harbour for the former female _ryoka. _

Kuchiki Byakuya had always been a lonely soul, dignified and stoic – arrogant, his critics would describe him as, if they did not understand him and his pride _and his burden _in carrying the Kuchiki clan's name. He had been passionate in his youth, easy to anger as Shihoun Yoruichi had regaled past Shinigami Captains with tales with before she was exiled. The deaths of his parents was the first loss to the ardour of his passions. Kuchiki Ginrei's blessing of the young vice-captain then as the Kuchiki clan's leader and the elder's subsequent death was the second nail in the proverbial coffin. There had been a brief revival of the _young Byakuya _when he fell in love and married Hisana of the Rukongai. Those brief five years were the happiest Unohana Retsu had ever seen in the newly appointed Captain. The death of Hisana and their unborn child cemented the image of the cold, distant noble. Unohana always suspected that Kuchiki Rukia's startling resemblance to Hisana had been a point of subconscious resentment, hurt and pain for the Kuchiki head. That much had been proven and finally laid to rest after Kurosaki Ichigo (and Aizen) had fought the aristocrat.

But Unohana had seen the loss and subtle uncertainty that Kuchiki Byakuya had sought to fiercely hide following his recuperation. The noble, for all his 500 years, is stilled considered fairly young by Soul Society standards. An end to his previously held assumptions and certainties had caused an axis to be tilted, raised old scars with no means to heal them.

And then entered Inoue Orihime, who had returned with Rukia to train for a month in the Seireitei.

Denial aside, the Kuchiki leader had centred in on the human girl as the salve to his wounds, the much-needed reconciliation between past and present. Those four weeks had wrought changes of the miraculous kind that no soul would have ever fathomed. The rumours in servant and noble circles had abounded about how Kuchiki Byakuya was heard laughing in the manor, how the sound of two flutes whose melodies were intertwined as intimately as two lovers were heard in the Kuchiki compound, etc., etc.

Though no certain fact was ever established by the gossip mill, Unohana did believe that without smoke, there is no fire. Contrary to all other speculations, she had concrete proof that Kuchiki Byakuya does care for Inoue Orihime.

During the month-long training which the human girl undertook in the Seireitei, there had been a day when Kuchiki Rukia had not been available to spar with due to her shinigami duties. Orihime had gone to the Fourth Division to help and learn healing _kido_, as she was wont to do whenever she had free time. That day, she had gone with Isane Kotetsu and a small team of Fourth Division healers to the 78th district of the Rukongai to cure the sick. Unohana Retsu was aware that Orihime had come in contact with an infant who died from scarlet fever, but both she and the young girl decided that some medication would prevent any subsequent illness. When Kuchiki Byakuya shunpoed into the Fourth carrying an unconscious Orihime, Unohana had been shocked.

The greater surprise had been Kuchiki Byakuya's anger.

Isane Kotetsu had nearly been reduced to tears at the Kuchiki leader's angry barrage of questions and retorts, and Unohana herself had felt the simmering of wrath that Byakuya had held towards her. Disrespect towards a captain had been heard of, but certainly not from the Sixth Division's leader who had to be sharply reminded from Unohana that bed rest would cure Inoue Orihime from her fever. _Kuchiki Hisana's death had been expected; thus, anger had been lacking, overtaken by sorrow. But Orihime's exclamations of never being ill since little had been overturned by her unexpected collapse in the middle of her walk back to the Kuchiki manor. _

Unohana had taken little offense at Byakuya's outburst and readily accepted his apology. The lingering astonishment was Byakuya's devotion to sit by Orihime's bedside in his spare moments during four tense days of high thermometer readings. The Kuchiki noble could be callous, could try to hide his entrances and exits from the Fourth, but Unohana could easily identify the beginnings of Byakuya's –

"Taichou, the meeting will begin in five minutes." Unohana Retsu started from her reverie by Isane's voice.

"Thank you Isane. I'll be on my way." Sweeping the last of her files into the manila folder, the Fourth's Captain made her way to the meeting.

Unohana Retsu has many reasons to support Inoue Orihime. Not only is she convinced of the latter's innocence, her expertise as a healer urges her to demand the end of Inoue's detainment and incarceration in the Barbican of Atonement before irreparable mental harm is done.

_But most importantly, her last reason to protect the human girl … another Captain's happiness is at stake. _

_**Hinamori Momo – The flap of a butterfly's wings causes a hurricane elsewhere**_

She remembered her.

That is what Hinamori Momo kept repeating to herself as she took an unused stone path to an unused building on the fringes of the Seireitei. Spotting the familiar oak doors, she pushed them open as she entered the candle-lit temple.

Inhaling the incense, Momo felt the soothing calm of her surroundings smooth her frayed nerves _as it always does. _As a _kido _expert, she suspected that much of the calming effect was to do with the lingering traces of Orihime-san's reiatsu as much as the thick rosewood walls which blocked the sounds of the intrusive outdoors and the gentle wiff of incense.

The mind sift interrogation from which she had ran as soon as the meeting was finished was terrible, _horrible. _It had revealed to her what all the other captains and vice-captains had known for a very long time – the truth of what Aizen-taichou _no, not Aizen-taichou, you cannot call him Aizen-taichou anymore! _was capable of.

Hinamori Momo had adored her Captain, perhaps a little excessively so if Shiro-chan's grumblings and irritated eyebrow twitchings were any indication. But truly, how could she have known? How could she have guessed that her mild-mannered Captain who had been _so gentle_ and forever patient in guiding her when she first became vice-captain was conspiring for years before she entered the Academy to overthrow the Seireitei? _To commit murder and use any other heinous means to 'become God' and "sit on the throne in Heaven"? _

_The man who had so easily thrust Kyouka Suigetsu through her fragile body when she broke out from prison to see him, who had smiled while doing so, could not have been Aizen-taichou! It simply can't be! _Her heart had rebelled against the concrete proofs her mind had supplied her with. She had pled with Shiro-chan to save Aizen-taichou when she briefly awoke from her coma, had made excuses for the man she so admired and perhaps had her first crush on – _"It was Ichimaru-taichou who forced Aizen-taichou to do those horrible things! Please save him, Shiro-chan! Please save Aizen-taichou!"_

She had been so gullible, so naïve, the perfect candidate to play the fool!

Momo had never been ashamed before to be identified as Aizen Sousuke's fukutaichou. Even in those confusing days when she awoke from her coma and shinigamis had whispered behind their hands, behind their back, behind their pointed glances and clumsily hidden pointing fingers _That's Hinamori-fukutaichou, the girl who had been played by Aizen! Poor thing! She still can't accept it… Do you think she is on his side? Will she betray us, do you think? _she had never been ashamed to have been associated with her captain's name. Until now, until the magnitude of Orihime-san's confession and memories had revealed what she had forced herself to be blind to _even during the Final Battle_, Momo had not been accepting of the fact that Aizen _had been a traitor. _

Kneeling before the wall carvings dedicated to Amaterasu the sun goddess before placing her joss sticks into the cups of ashes of previous incense, Hinamori brought her palms together in the motion of praying but her mind was in turmoil as she gazed at the goddess. Her mind is still replaying Orihime-san's screams as the mad scientist, pink-haired Espada had drilled electricity into the human girl's mind and body, and in the background, from Orihime-san's position lying on her back, Momo had seen her Captain _her captain who had punished the male subordinates harassing and questioning her competence as fukutaichou _minus the glasses, smile beatifically at Orihime-san's torture.

Orihime-san had been screaming from physical agony but not fear. Orihime-san had been fully prepared for punishment, had calculated her miniscule 15% probability of success in sending a message to Soul Society regarding Aizen's plans to use Karakura Town to make the King's Key, but Momo, in watching all of Orihime-san's memories, who had been in no physical danger, had been terrified. In being confronted with the true atrocities her former Captain is capable of, there was simply no way that her rose-tinted lenses could survive. The power that Aizen Sousuke had acknowledged within Orihime's fragile human body, the same power which had brought back Grimmjow Jaegerjacques' arm, had rejected Hinamori Momo's delusions and desperately held excuses.

While Orihime-san should have been the one crying, who had the right to cry from reliving her month-long horrors again through the mind sift, it was Hinamori Momo who was crying, whimpering at the end on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth. _She had been such a fool! _And shame flooded Momo before she took off from the joint meeting as though Hell hounds were chasing her.

And during Orihime-san's month in the Seireitei, Momo had once had the audacity to yell at Orihime for _"being just like the others in blaming Aizen-taichou!" _The young vice-captain pressed the knuckles of her hands into her eyes in a desperate attempt to stem her tears as that conversation drifted back into her mind.

Momo was still in a coma when Inoue Orihime came to train the Seireitei. Not having the strength to move was fine with her since she had no inclination to move or confront the fact that Aizen-taichou had betrayed Soul Society and left her. So the comatosed vice-captain was very surprised to feel a new reiatsu, one she wasn't familiar with, enter her hospital room and began making conversation with her.

"_Hello Hinamori-san, my name is Inoue Orihime. I don't think we've met before even when Kurosaki-kun came to Soul Society to save Kuchiki-san. … I wasn't aware that this is your room, gomen. I'm so clumsy. Sometimes, I think the little green men just invade my brain and tell me to try out new directions…"_

That was their first meeting and the first of many one-sided conversations that she would have with the former _ryoka_, who came back to tell her stories about her training with Kuchiki Rukia, about the Human World where humans used trains and flying contraptions called airplanes because they do not have shunpo or gateways into different worlds, about how much _Toushirou-kun_ missed Hinamori-san and is fighting hard in the human world because he believes he has failed her. But all their one-sided conversations never mentioned or touched upon Aizen-taichou.

In turn for the human girl's consideration, Momo eagerly waited for her return, for her stories. She never realized that Shiro-chan harboured a crush on her as Orihime-san appeared to be hinting at. She learned about other new things during her sleep.

However, one day, Orihime-san came in and started speaking about her brother, her Sora-nii-chan whom she admired and loved with all her heart since there was only the two of them after they fled from their abusive parents.

"_Because I cried for nii-chan to not leave me, he remained behind in spirit and eventually turned into a Hollow. He hurt Kurosaki-kun, my best friend Tatsuki-chan and even me. He wanted to eat my soul so he would not feel so alone. I never realized that I caused my brother to become so hurt and lonely when I showed him how happy I was so he could move on. When he became a Hollow, I did not even want to believe that it was Onii-chan. _

_But when he understood why, and I understood why he acted the way he did, I felt a little better. But even after for some time, even after Kuchiki-san used the Memory chikan, I refused to believe that Kurosaki-kun and onii-chan were fighting, even when somewhere underneath, I knew it was true – "_

The insinuation had been clear enough that Hinamori Momo had been angered to the point of breaking out of her coma to accuse Inoue Orihime, blanket covers flying off in her rage, _"You're just like the others Inoue-san. You think Aizen-taichou is wrong! And I thought you were different, I thought you understood!"_

If Inoue Orihime had been surprised by Hinamori's sudden awakening and the ensuing flying accusations, she certainly didn't show it. The human girl had slowly stood up, moving like someone trying not to frighten away an animal, and locked Hinamori's room. It was only then that Momo was aware that footsteps were running down the hall from the beeping machinery which had picked up on her heart rate and increased reiatsu.

" … _Hinamori-san … maybe you're right that I don't exactly know or feel what you're going through right now. But if I try, … could you please not push me away?" _There had been frantic banging on the hospital door, but Orihime had continued as though there was no disturbance of any sort, focusing all of her attention on Momo with a neutral look. _"Hinamori-san, you were the only one who was shown kindness of the kind that Aizen-san had shown you." _The human girl had not spat out the name Aizen like the other shinigamis, attaching even a _san _suffix. _"If anyone has the right to feel hurt and cry, you would be the only one, Hinamori-san."_

And before Momo had known what she was doing, she had crashed into Orihime with the intention of maybe scratching or hurting the girl, but instead cried into the human girl's bosom as the door to her room was flung open and the Fourth Division healers just gazed on in bewilderment and confusion. 

And during the mindsift, Momo had seen Orihime think about her. _When that Arrancar girl had threatened maliciously to "take back everything you stole from me" _Orihime-san had thought of her, Momo. She had not hated her attacker, but gazing at Loly, Orihime-san had momentarily seen Momo's face superimposed over the Arrancar's. _"Was this what you meant by 'not understanding you', Momo-san? You cared for Aizen this much…Is this the hurt you experienced from…having the One Person, your World, whom you adored and respected…turn away and discard you?" _That had been Orihime-san's last fully coherent thought before she was harassed, kicked, punched and abused. 

Momo cried, still on her knees before the goddess, any attempt at praying, gone. She and Orihime-san had tidied up this temple before the latter had been captured and taken away to Hueco Mundo. Momo, during her convalescence, had followed the human girl around like a lost puppy, and during one of their strolls, they came upon the abandoned temple. Even after a storm which set back their attempts, they still managed to finally fix up the place. And it was here that Momo sought her refuge now. But later, she would go back out _and she would fight for Orihime-san. _

Orihime-san had not given up on her during Momo's darkest hour. It is only _right_ that Momo would help Orihime now when the other girl is at her most vulnerable. And Momo remembers one of Orihime's gentle rebukes when the former had questioned continuing rebuilding the temple after the storm.

"_Sometimes, it is the smallest gesture, which makes all the difference." _

**A/N **And thus concludes the much wanted third chapter! As much as I wanted to include Rukia in this one, I wanted to get another update on She's no traitor out. As much as I've kept you all waiting, this chapter also took a lot of time and effort so please, please review!

I am working on the fourth chapter. To spike your curiousity, I will let you in on a little secret. It will include Renji's, Urahara's, and Shinji's POVs. I'm looking for a fourth name so if anyone wants to submit a character suggestion, please go ahead! It can be anyone of the Shinigami, Vaizards or the Golden Quartet. So start reviewing and posting!

Bye for now!

(I do not own Bleach.)


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